Readings for Today. Listen to our other podcasts.
Create a clean heart
Create a clean heart in me, O God. Throughout the Bible, the heart is an image that is used often to discuss, to describe, to help us to think about those things that are most important to us. Obviously, it is used to talk about our love of God, which is primary, but we also use it of course to talk about the love of our family, the love of the people to whom we minister to, indeed a general love of the world.
But the challenge is that oftentimes our love is not clean. Our love is not as purposeful as it should be. Our love is not as clear as God desires it to be. And God desires it to be clean not because He is simply all-powerful, though He is, but God desires it to be clean because more than anything else, God desires that we be saved, that we share in the love of Christ, not just for today or for weeks or years or however long we have on this earth, but much more especially that we might love Jesus forever by living in His presence, having the beatific vision, and being saved.
There are a number of things that can cause our heart to be unclean. Certainly, there is sin. And any time we sin, our heart becomes a little less clean. And if it’s a mortal sin, it becomes completely unclean, needing to be specifically healed by God. But even if it isn’t sin, sometimes our heart can be straying away for things that are even legitimate or good.
I’ll give an example from my own life. You know, as Dominicans, we’re called to be active contemplatives. And as one of our former provincials used to like to remind us, the noun is contemplative. I have to confess that I am very much tempted to the active. There’s a certain sense that when I’m active, when I’m busy, kind of like that bumper sticker I used to say, “Jesus is coming, look busy.”
But when I think of that, I think, well, I do kind of tend to be too busy. And why is that? Well, certainly when we’re busy in ministry, we get a certain sense of satisfaction. As teachers, I think in particular, there’s a real satisfaction when a kid gets it. And you know that kid got it because of you. So it’s easy to err on the side of being busy.
But what’s the downside of too much activity at the expense of contemplation? Control. The biggest reason I think activity is a temptation for me is because I like to be in control. And when I think about contemplation, that is a desire in my heart to put God in control, to allow God to lead me where God wants me to go.
Saint Hyacinth, who we celebrate today, always a pleasure to celebrate a Dominican saint, was one such person. He met Saint Dominic and immediately became a Dominican. Not surprising. When we read descriptions of Saint Dominic, he was a very appealing person. People were drawn to him.
But what was the purpose he was trying to accomplish? Seeking for the salvation of souls. I spent a number of years at a Christian Brother’s school. And the big concern of Saint John Baptist de La Salle was the salvation of the students who were running all over the place because their parents were poor and they were working, but they didn’t know anything of God as a result. And they were getting into mischief and trouble.
What did he say to his brothers? Salvation is primary. Everything that is done is for the salvation of souls. Even if it looks rather ordinary. Even if it looks like learning English or math or trade skills, it still was to provide them the means for openness to salvation. And Saint Hyacinth took that great, great image and that great life that he was inspired to take up by Dominic all over the place. May we do the same.
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